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| 2014 |
Executive Committee Members: Patricia Daniels (PD), John Doland (JD), Doris Halls (DoH), Graham Hardy (GH), David Harper (DaH), Nick Martensz (NM), Anthony Mitchell (AM), Chris Stannard (CS), L.M. Stockman (LMS)
Emilio Ceraudo (EC), Joyce Jarvis (JJ) and Josephine Powell (JP) were absent with apologies.
Surgery Representatives: [none]
Lesley Davis (LD) and Fiona McGlashan (FM) were absent with apologies.
Invited Speaker: Shahin Hussain (SH)
Shahin Hussain (SH) is a podiatrist working with Cambridgeshire Community Services. He began his talk and slide show with an explanation of why foot care is important and what a podiatrist actually does. Podiatry is a clinical speciality dealing with the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the foot and lower limb. To qualify as a podiatrist, a student must complete a BSc Honours course in podiatric medicine. Until recently, podiatrists were known as chiropodists but now there is a distinction between the two fields, with podiatrists having higher formal qualifications. Both terms are protected, meaning that it is illegal for anyone who is not qualified to call themselves a podiatrist or chiropodist.
Podiatry is more than trimming toenails. Podiatrists treat a wide range of foot, ankle and lower limb problems, working with doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other health professionals.
There followed a discussion on what constitutes good footwear. Good footwear have a secure fastening, a bit of a heel and a round toe box to avoid crowding the toes. Many fashionable shoes, particularly for women, fail miserably in these respects.
How does a patient access NHS podiatry services? They can be referred by their health care professional or they can self refer by using a form available at their surgery. NHS podiatry no longer provides nail cutting or debridement services for non-high risk patients but there is an NHS social foot care scheme called Feet Focus which, for a fee, provides these services for a small fee. Patients can also engage private podiatrists or chiropodists but they should take care to ensure the person caring for their feet is registered with the Health & Care Professional Council.
The talk ended with an interesting question and answer session.
The minutes from the meeting of 27 August 2014 were approved pending a minor correction. It was noted that the public use defibrillator is now in place at the parish council office
Action: Deferred to next meeting.
Action: Deferred to next meeting.
LMS enquired about a fund raising activity operated by the Health Walk organisers. PD replied that they were raising money to install a picnic table outside the library for the use of the coffee group that meets on Wednesday, the participants in the Health Walks and the general public. They are attempting to raise approximately £1000 and already have around £300.
There being no other business, JD thanked members for attending and the meeting closed at 7:30 p.m.
The next meeting of the Executive Committee of the PPG will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 October 2014, in the TNT Room at Bar Hill Church. Refreshments will be available before the meeting.
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Last updated on 1 November 2014 by the Webmaster